OBJECTIVETo evaluate the postoperative quality of life of aged patients (> 80 years old) who underwent hip hemiarthroplasty for femoral neck fracture one year ago.

METHODSFrom February 1995 to February 2001, 52 elderly patients (> 80 years old) underwent the hip hemiarthroplasty after femoral neck fractures. There were 28 males and 24 females, with the average age of 84.2 years old (ranged from 80 - 95 years old). The fracture type was Garden III or IV, and all the patients underwent the hip hemiarthroplasty of domestic prosthesis. Before the operation, most of them were accompanied with pre-existed diseases. Harris hip score including symptoms and the ability of daily life at the one year after operation was adopted for the follow-up. Postoperative A-P and lateral X-ray of hip joint in different phase were also assayed.

RESULTSForty-six patients (88.46%) were free of pain and satisfied their operations, only 6 patients (11.54%) complained about slight pain. Twenty-four patients (46.2%) were able to walk without any assistant, 24 patients (46.2%) managed to walk by walker, 4 patients (7.7%) could only lie on the bed or move by wheel chair. Postoperatively, patients with neurological diseases such as Parkinson dementia, Senile dementia, cerebrovascular diseases got poor result of the quality of life. However, the other comorbid diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus, chronic renal failure, chronic bronchitis did not affect the result. Thirty-eight patients had the postoperative X-ray when they were followed up. Postoperatively, the X-ray were taken from 3 months to 5 years and 6 months, averaged 54.2 months. Sclerotic line were discovered around the shaft of prosthesis only in 3 patients. No complications such as femoral head central dislocation or hip osteoarthritis were found.

CONCLUSIONOperative treatment could be actively adopted for aged femoral neck fracture patients without surgical contraindication, which can contribute to obtain the motion ability, reduce complication caused by lying in bed, and keep a good quality of life.